Side Opening Garment

ABSTRACT

A side opening garment having a side opening for use in allowing the user to put on the garment using only one hand. The garment comprises a shirt having an upper end, an open lower end, and a pair of sleeves. A side of the body includes an opening extending from the lower end of the garment upward toward the sleeve, and along the underside of the sleeve. The opening can be positioned on the left side or right side of the shirt, depending upon the embodiment. A first edge of the opening and a second edge of the opening include fasteners thereon that can be removably secured to seal the opening. In this way, the garment allows a user to put on one side of the shirt in the conventional manner, while adorning the opposing side of the shirt by sealing the opening.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/077,354 filed on Nov. 10, 2014. The above identified patent application is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety to provide continuity of disclosure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to garments. More specifically, the present invention provides a garment for use by handicapped individuals that allows the user to put on the garment with the use of only one hand.

Many people have difficult putting on a shirt or other similar garment due to the inability to lift or raise both arms in order to insert the arms through the shirt's sleeves. Handicapped or disabled individuals may lack full control of both of their arms. Further, man elderly people lack proper mobility making it difficult to put on a shirt without assistance from another person. People having a broken arm or hand may also be unable to utilize the injured arm or hand when putting on a shirt. As a result, it is often necessary to have another person assist the individual in getting changed. However, requesting assistance from another person in order to change shirts can be embarrassing and can cause the person to lose independence.

Devices have been disclosed in the prior art that relate to garments for patients and physically challenged persons. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to garments having openings and fasteners thereon for helping users to adorn the garment, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,123, U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,126, U.S. Pat. No. 6,868,556, U.S. Published Patent Application Number 2007/0028368, and U.S. Published Patent Application Number 2010/0050315.

These prior art devices have several known drawbacks. The devices in the prior art provide garments for handicapped individuals and patients, however, such devices do not allow the user to adorn a first sleeve of the garment in the traditional manner while also providing an opening on the opposing side of the garment for allowing the user to adorn the garment using a single hand. As such, the devices in the prior art are not constructed so as to allow the user to adorn the shirt without assistance from another user and with the use of only a single hand. Further, these devices are not adapted to resemble traditional shirts and garments.

In light of the devices disclosed in the prior art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing garment devices having openings thereon. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of garments now present in the prior art, the present invention provides a new side opening garment wherein the same can be utilized for providing convenience for the user when allowing a user to adorn a shirt using only one hand.

A side opening garment comprising a shirt having an upper end, an open lower end, and a pair of sleeves. A first side of the garment comprises an opening therealong, wherein the opening extends from the lower end of the garment upward toward the sleeve, wherein the lower end of the sleeve is open. The opening comprises a first edge and a second edge on opposing sides of the opening, wherein each edge includes a plurality of mating fasteners thereon. In operation, the user can put on the garment with the side opening in an open configuration, and can then use one hand to secure the mating fasteners so as to seal the opening. In this way, the user can put on the garment using only a single hand to facilitate changing by people having a handicap or injury to one of their hands or arms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

Although the characteristic features of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself and manner in which it may be made and used may be better understood after a review of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like numeral annotations are provided throughout.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the side opening garment in the open configuration.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up view of the opening of the side opening garment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference is made herein to the attached drawings. Like reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to depict like or similar elements of the side opening garment. For the purposes of presenting a brief and clear description of the present invention, the preferred embodiment will be discussed as used for allowing a user to get changed using only one hand. The figures are intended for representative purposes only and should not be considered to be limiting in any respect.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of the side opening garment in an open configuration. The side opening garment 11 comprises a shirt 12 having an upper end 14, an open lower end 13, and a pair of sleeves 16. The upper end 14 comprises a neck opening 15 thereon. In the illustrated embodiment, the garment 11 resembles a T-shirt. However, in alternate embodiments, the garment 11 can resemble any of various types of tops, such as short-sleeved T-shirts, long-sleeved T-shirts, sweaters, blouses, tank tops, and dresses, among others. Further, the garment 11 can be composed of any materials typically used in producing clothing, such as cotton, wool, and polyester, among others.

A side of the shirt 12 comprises an opening therealong. The opening extends from the lower end 13 of the shirt 12 upward along the side of the shirt towards the sleeve 16. The opening can be positioned on the left side of the shirt or the right side of the shirt, depending upon the embodiment. The opening also extends along the length of the sleeve 16 so that the lower end of the sleeve 16 is open. The shirt 12 comprises a first edge 17 and a second edge 18 on opposing sides of the opening. The first edge 17 comprises a fastener 19 thereon and the second edge 18 comprises a mating fastener 20 thereon, wherein the fasteners 19, 20 can be removably secured together so as to seal the opening. The fasteners 19, 20 are preferably hook and loop fastening material. However, in alternate embodiments other fasteners may be used such as buttons or snaps, among others.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a close-up view of the opening of the side opening garment. In the illustrated embodiment, the fasteners 19 and 20 comprise hook and loop fastening material. The first edge 17 comprises a plurality of fasteners 19 on an exterior surface thereof. The second edge 18 comprises a plurality of mating fasteners 20 on an interior surface thereof. The fasteners 19, 20 can be aligned in an overlapping configuration so as to secure the first edge 17 to the second edge 18. In this way, the opening is sealed so that the garment 11 resembles a traditional shirt. Further, the fasteners 19, 20 are concealed so that they are not visible. This allows the garment 11 to resemble a conventional shirt.

In operation, the user can arrange the side opening garment 11 in an open configuration. The user can insert his head into the neck opening of the garment. The user can then insert his or her non-injured arm through a first sleeve on the garment. The garment is then positioned on the user's body similarly to a conventional shirt, and the second sleeve is draped over the user's injured arm. The user can then utilize his or her non-injured arm to secure the fasteners 19, 20 on the first and second edge 17, 18 of the opening. The user can secure the fasteners 19, 20 so as to close the side of the shirt and the underside of the sleeve. In this way, the user can put on a shirt without using or moving the injured arm and without the assistance of another person.

It is therefore submitted that the instant invention has been shown and described in what is considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments. It is recognized, however, that departures may be made within the scope of the invention and that obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art. With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention. 

I claim: 1) A side opening garment, comprising: a shirt having an upper end, a lower end, and a pair of sleeves; an opening extending along a side of the shirt from a lower end thereof towards one of the pair of sleeves, and along a lower end of the sleeve; a first edge on a first side of the opening and a second edge on a second side of the opening, wherein the first edge comprises a fastener adapted to removably engage with a mating fastener disposed on the second edge so as to seal the opening on the shirt. 2) The side opening garment of claim 1, wherein the fastener and mating fastener comprises hook and loop fastening material. 3) The side opening garment of claim 1, wherein the fastener and the mating fastener comprises snaps. 4) The side opening garment of claim 1, wherein the shirt comprises a long-sleeved shirt. 5) The side opening garment of claim 1, wherein the shirt comprises a short-sleeved shirt. 6) The side opening garment of claim 1, wherein the fastener is disposed on an exterior surface of the first edge, and wherein the mating fastener is disposed on an interior surface of the second edge. 